Box Score  | Photo Gallery | GameDay Preview

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team entered Monday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Carleton flying high — having knocked off ninth-ranked St. Thomas just 48 hours early.

And if coach Mandy Pearson had any fears of an emotional letdown against the Knights, the Cardinals quickly put them to rest.

SMU took control from the opening tip — scoring back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game — and never looking back in cruising to a 68-55 conference win at the SMU Gym.

With the win, the Cardinals — who have now won seven straight — moved into a virtual tie atop the conference standings with St. Thomas and Bethel. The Tommies, who handed Bethel its first loss of the season on Wednesday, are sitting at 8-1 in conference play, while SMU and Bethel are one-half game back at 7-1.

Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) and Darcey Rice (Eagan, Minn.) drained back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Cardinals' offense jump-started — and that's all the jump-start it would need, as SMU raced out to a 22-2 advantage with 11:03 remaining, before taking an 11-point, 29-18 lead into the lockeroom at the break.

SMU hit on seven of its first 11 field goals and finished the half 10-for-19 — including 4 of 9 from 3-point range. Carleton, meanwhile, struggled to find any sort of offensive rhythm, shooting just 18 percent from the field (6-for-34) — and failing on all 10 3-point attempts — in the opening 20 minutes.

The Cardinals used another run early in the second half to push their lead to as many as 28 with 11:08 remaining in regulation, before settling for the 13-point victory.

Auseth — who was named MIAC Athlete of the Week earlier in the day — scored a team0high 17 points for the Cardinals, while Rice chipped in 11. Auseth connected on 5 of 6 field goal attempts, including that 3-pointer to open the game, and was 6-for-9 from the free throw line en route to her team-best 17 points. Rice, meanwhile, drained 3 of 6 3-pointers in a 4-for-8 showing from the field in chipping in her 11 points.

Skylar Tsutsui netted a game-high 18 points in the losing effort for Carleton (2-6 MIAC, 4-7 overall), while Jenny Ramey and Michele Arima each added 10 points.

Saint Mary's finished the game 21-for-41 from the field (51 percent) — including five 3-pointers — and went 21-for-30 from the free throw line. Carleton, meanwhile, continued to struggle, especially from 3-point land, in the second half, as the Knights finished 17-for-67 from the field (25 percent) — and just 2-for-21 from behind the arc.

The Cardinals, who improved to 10-1 overall — marking the first time SMU has started the season with 10 wins in their first 11 games since 1985-86, when Saint Mary's opened 19-0 en route to a 24-3 overall record and berth in the NCAA national tournament — return to action on Wednesday, traveling to Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 7:30 p.m. MIAC game against Hamline.